John Reynolds

John Reynolds (26 February 1788-8 May 1865) was Governor of Illinois from 6 December 1830 to 17 November 1834, succeeding Ninian Edwards and preceding William Lee D. Ewing, as well as a member of the US House of Representatives (D-IL 1) from 1 December 1834 to 3 March 1837 (succeeding Charles Slade and preceding Adam W. Snyder) and from 4 March 1839 to 3 March 1843 (succeeding Snyder and preceding Robert Smith).

Biography
John Reynolds was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in 1788, the son of Irish immigrant parents, and his parents brought him to Tennessee at the age of six months. After experiencing hostility from local Native Americans, they moved into the impoverished interior of the state, and they moved again to Kaskaskia, Illinois in 1800 and then to Edwardsville in 1807. In 1812, Reynolds became a lawyer in Edwardsville, and he fought against the natives during the War of 1812 as a scout. In 1818, he was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court, and he served in the State House from 1826 to 1830. He was a moderate Jacksonian who commanded the respect of both sides of politics, and he served as Governor from 1830 to 1834. He served as field commander of the state militia during the Black Hawk War of 1832, and he resigned as Governor in 1834 to serve in the US House of Representatives from 1834 to 1837 and again from 1839 to 1843. In 1839, he attempted to gain the support of the LDS Church by introducing Joseph Smith to President Martin Van Buren. He served in the State House in 1846 and in 1852, and, as a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention, he supported John C. Breckinridge. He died in Belleville, Illinois in May 1865.